Duterte faces first criminal raps since lapse of presidential immunity

MANILA — ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint against former President Rodrigo Duterte over his alleged threats against her life, which were aired on national television and livestreamed online.

Accompanied by current and former Makabayan bloc representatives and her lawyers from the Movement Against Disinformation, Castro filed a grave threats complaint against the former president at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, the first known criminal rap filed against Duterte since he stepped down from office.

“Malubhang pagbabanta ito sa aking buhay dahil nagkaroon din naman ito ng epekto lalo na sa panahong ako ay kasalukuyang nagdadalamhati sa pagkamatay ng aking tatay, doon pa nya talaga pinagbantaan ang aking buhay,” Castro said in a chance interview immediately after the filing.

Castro was at her father’s wake when she saw Duterte’s remarks, according to the complaint.

“Talagang na-shock po ako doon sa ginawang threat ni dating Presidente Rodrigo Duterte sa aking buhay… Talagang masakit. Parang dobleng sakit ang naramdaman ko noong panahon na ‘yon na naka-receive pa ako ng pagbabanta sa aking buhay,” she said.

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In an Oct. 11 episode of his TV program Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa on the SMNI News Channel, a clip of which was shown to the media by Castro, the Duterte patriarch shared his advice to his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, on how to use her confidential and intelligence funds.

“Pero ang una mong target d’yan [sa] intelligence fund mo, kayo, ikaw France, kayong mga Komunista ang gusto kong patayin,” he was seen saying.

While the statement only mentioned “France,” Castro said she felt alluded to because her full name was mentioned earlier in the interview.

“Talagang nakita ko na ako talaga yung tinutukoy niya doon sa kanyang programa dahil may kinalaman ito doon sa mga subjects na related doon sa ginagawa natin sa Kongreso,” she said.

“Tingin ko kaugnay ito sa ginampanang role sa Kongreso — pagbusisi sa confidential funds na nagbunga ng pagkatanggal, pagka-realign ng budget,” she explained.

Castro, along with 2 other Makabayan bloc representatives, have been critical of Vice President Duterte’s confidential and intelligence funds.

She asked for P500 million for the Office of the Vice President and P150 million for the Department of Education but House leaders realigned these allocations to augment the budgets of intelligence and security forces tasked to address escalating threats in the West Philippine Sea.

• House leadership to realign Sara Duterte's surveillance funds

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In her complaint, Castro said she felt compelled to file the complaint in light of the deadly consequences of red-tagging or being linked to the communist movement in the country.

“I also cannot just ignore Respondent Duterte’s said grave threats to my life, liberty and security as something that he merely said to his daughter, considering that, in this very episode subject of this Complaint and in other public statements that he made before, during, and even after his tenure as President and Davao City Mayor, he admitted to ordering the killing of those whom he considered as communists, and that he used secret funds to do so: ‘Ang intelligence fund, binili ko. Pinapatay ko lahat. Kaya ganun ang Davao. Yung mga kasama ninyo, pinatigok ko talaga. ‘Yun ang totoo’,” read the complaint.

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PANELO DEFENDS DUTERTE

Duterte’s former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo dismissed the complaint as having “no legal basis” which was filed “for propaganda purposes.”

He also denied there was a threat and that Duterte was referring to Castro.

“It’s not a threat. Because a threat is ‘I will kill you.’ But when you say ‘I want to kill you,’ that’s only expressing a desire,” he said in an interview with ANC’s Dateline Philippines on Tuesday.

Grave threats under the Revised Penal Code punishes “any person who shall threaten another with the infliction upon the person, honor or property of the latter or of his family of any wrong amounting to a crime.”

It carries a penalty of up to 6 months in prison but since Castro’s complaint alleged that this was done in connection with the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175), the maximum penalty is up to 6 years in jail plus a fine of P100,000.00

NO MORE PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

Castro said Duterte could no longer hide behind presidential immunity.

“Hindi na siya makakapagtago…Kailangang harapin na niya yung accountability dito sa ginawa niyang matinding pagbabanta sa aking buhay,” she said.

Another lawmaker, former Senator Leila de Lima, had tried to seek the Supreme Court’s help against Duterte’s tirades against her during his presidency but the high court junked the petition due to presidential immunity.

• Supreme Court junks De Lima plea vs Duterte's tirades

One of Castro’s lawyers, former Ateneo School of Government Dean Antonio La Viña, said the filing of her complaint was a historic move.

“This is about accountability. Si President Duterte has gotten away with so many things when he was president kasi may immunity siya from suit… First time we are holding President Duterte accountable for his actions in a Philippine court,” he said.

La Viña expressed confidence the criminal complaint would prosper despite the political climate.

But his fellow-lawyer from the Movement Against Disinformation (MAD) and former Philippine Bar Association President Rico Domingo said the case would put the prosecutorial and judicial system on trial.

“We are testing the prosecutorial and judicial system on how effective or not effective it is. And that is the main reason some of our countrymen are going to the International Criminal Court. Because the perception is that our judicial, prosecutorial systems, with all due respect, is not effective and cannot dispense justice like the way it should be,” he said.

MAD hopes Castro’s complaint will just be the start of several cases being filed against Duterte, including alleged extrajudicial killings.

The group said the scope of Duterte’s presidential immunity only protected him from the filing of cases during his presidency but he could still be prosecuted for acts which happened during his term, after his immunity ended when he stepped down from office.

“He has no immunity at all from previous and current acts and future acts…Ang hope nga dito, ang hope nating lahat na those that have even more serious crimes to charge against President Duterte, they will also file those charges to hold the person accountable now that the legal system allows us to hold him accountable for what he has done,” he said.

Castro noted a resolution at the House of Representatives was seeking to allow ICC investigators to come to the country as part of their probe on deaths under the drug war and the so-called Davao Death Squad.

In July, the ICC Appeals Chamber affirmed the Pre-Trial Chamber’s ruling authorizing the Office of the Prosecutor to proceed with the probe.

• ICC junks Philippine gov't appeal, to proceed with drug war probe
• How the ICC's PH drug war probe was almost lost on the issue of jurisdiction

It is now up to Prosecutor Karim Khan to determine who are the individuals who will be the subject of the investigation and if warrants of arrest are necessary for the ICC to take custody of them.

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REACTIONS

Reacting to the filing, rights group Karapatan expressed full support for Castro.

“The fact that Duterte and his ilk have the gall to declare open season against their perceived enemies shows that they are able to hide behind the same climate of impunity that shielded them when Duterte was president. This has to stop,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said.

MAD called on the public to “reject the culture of fear and misinformation that undermines our collective pursuit of truth and justice.”

“We must actively support the cultivation of a political environment that values integrity, empathy, and a commitment to the principles of truth and justice,” it said in a statement.